You Can Bounce Back!

Are you pondering how to get back into the flow of life after it has knocked you down? Taking positive action will get rid of negative thoughts pinning you to the mat of self-doubt. Here are a few tips on how to bounce back from hard times.

Clean tip your language! Get rid of self-defeating, negative or coercive language. Clear your vocabulary and thinking of can’t, should, must, ought to and but. For instance, go for a jog because you want to get your blood flowing, not because you feel you should or ought to. Do it because it will make you feel better.

Give yourself an “A” in failure. Go to school on your mistakes. Understand how you contributed to your own defeat. Analyze what you did wrong, accept it as a learning experience and forgive yourself. Take steps to overcome self-defeating processes and devote yourself to correcting the behavior.

Draw up a daily comeback plan. Use your downtime to reexamine and change some of your goals. This may be a great time to go back to college or chase after that wild dream you’ve always had. Draw up an activity sheet detailing everything you want to accomplish each day–not just major tasks. You don’t have to do everything you write down, but executing a few things on your list will get you going in the right direction.

Take small bites. It’s helpful to do pleasurable things, but don’t try to take on too big a task–it may cause you to move back toward your negative feelings. Instead, break it down into pieces and tackle them one at a time. Taking even the smallest steps will help move you forward and keep you from obsessing over negative events.

–Excerpted from It’s Not Over Until You Win! by Les Brown. Copyright 1997. Reprinted by arrangement with Simon & Schuster, $23. To order, call Books Now! at 800-BOOKS-NOW or visist the web site at www.BooksNow.com/BlackEnter.